The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-07-13
BUFFALO BILL.
HOW AND WHEN HE KILLED
HIS FIRST INDIAN.
And How He Killed Four Thousand
Two Hundred and Eighty Buff
falos Within the Period
of Eighteen Months.

falos Within the Period
of Eighteen Months.
Buffalo Bill, the noted scout and hum
ter, has been detailing some of the incl
dents of his career to London Gto6e
representative. He said: ~ was born
in February, 1S45, in the State of Iowa.
need not go into details respecting my
family, and can dismiss my youth by say
ing that when was not on a horse l was
lust being thrown off one. l soon be-
! came a pretty smart rider, and my prac-
tice with a gun was pretty good, too. l
was twelve years old when killed my
first Indian. 1t happened rather sudden.
I was walking ont by the river, near Fort
Kearney, one night about ten o'clock.
My companion had got on ahead some
how, and 1 was quite alone, when look
inc up toward the bluff bordering the
river saw, illuminated by the moon, the
head and shoulders of live Indian,
watching me with evident interest. Now
! I had heard many stories of the doings
of the red men, and had also been incul-
Gated with thorough distrust of their
ways; so, quickly coming to a
conclusion as to what I should
do, 1 brought my gun to my
shoulder and aiming at the head, fired.
The report sounded louder than usual In
the silence of the night, for it was past
ten O'Clock, and was followed by war-
whoop such as could only be built mp by
an Indian, and the next instant over six
feet of dead Indian came down splash
into the river.
| Soon after this I went to business. l
took the plains, and in the employ OF
Messrs. Russell and Simpson soon learned
the ins and outs of the wild life led
with horses and cattle driving teams,
riding express ponies, and getting to
know the land. Among other things. L
somehow found out how to hunt buffalo,
a sport second to none if you know how.
I shall never forget the faces of the five
: officers 1 met on the prairie once, not
many years ago. They were after herd
of buffalo. So was l. We exchanged
views. I gave them my ideas, they gave
me their sympathy. You surely don't
expect to catch buffalo with that Gothic
steed," said they.
| Il am going to try" said. .,
you'll never do it, man alive" said
the Captain. "It wants fast horse to
overtake buffalo"
"Docs it2" I respond. ::
eyes, but you can come with us, II
you like"
And I did like. There were eleven
buffalos in the herd, and while the Off
GERS rode straight at them, headed the
leaders and got up to them with ease.
The horse which my companion had been
, chatting was the famous Brigham, who
knew as much about the sport as | did;
! he speedily did his part of the business.
A few Jumps brought us up to the herd.
Raising ''Lucretia Borgia," my trusty
weapon, I aimed at the first animal, fired
and brought him down, Brigham, like
the ideal animal that he was, carrying me
rapidly up to the next brute, not ten
feet away: and, when I had dropped
him, bounded on to the next, and so on,
until I had slain the whole eleven aui'
mails, and then my horse stopped. 1dis-
mounted to regard my work with a feel,
ing of satisfaction. Those officers rode
up shortly, and 1 shall never forget their
expression as they surveyed the work OF
five minutes lying around.
My horse Brigham was an exception.
ally Intelligent brute. He took the keen
est delight in sport, and invariably took
pains to aid me in getting game. All he
! expected of me was to do the shooting.
/ The ,est was his work. He would always
stop if the buffalo did not fall at the first
shot, so as to give me second chance;
but if did not bring him down then he
would 60 on disguised.
1t was in 1867 that the Kansas Pacific
track was in the buffalo country, and the
company was employing over 1900 men
in the making of the road. The Indians
were very troublesome, and it was moi
always easy to get sufficient supplies OF
fresh meat for the men. 1t was about
this time that Messrs. Goddard, the con.
tractors to the constructors, made me a
handsome offer, provided Iwould under.
take to hunt for them. They required
| twelve buffalos per diem. The work
was somewhat dangerous, owing tc
the Indians, but the terms were
handsome-$5OO per month. l took
the offer, and in less than eighteen
! months, during which time my engage.
ment lasted, killed 4, ,2sO buffalos single
handed, and had many scrimmages with
the Indians and hairbreadth escapes. II
was during this period of my career that
I had my celebrated buffalo killing match
with Billy Comstock, the noted scout,
then at Fort Wallace. The terms were
settled as follows: We were to hunt one
day of eight hours, from A. NJ. to 4P.M
The stakes were $500 side, and the mar
who killed the most buffalo was to be
declared the winner. The contest took
place twenty miles east from Sheridan,
and many thousand people came from all
parts to see the sport. We were fortr'
nate on finding animals, and had plenty
of sport. We made three runs each, and
killed sixty-nine buffalo, my rival being
content with forty-six. Not bad days
work, day which is an historical ont
for me, inasmuch as since then have in
variably been referred to in all parts Of
the civilized world as Buffalo Bill.